Looking for a hip-hop group with lots of different styles that is incredibly easy to vibe out to.

Thoughts on Album Cover:

Yeah it’s okay, not terrible, not great.

Want to Own on Vinyl?:

Yeah, think it’ll be hard to find on vinyl though

Final Thoughts:

L.A. Symphony knows they’re aren’t heavy weight rhymers, but they don’t really care, they’re just chill guys having a fun time. Disappear Here is filled with lots of call and action rhymes, punchlines, and an array of styles and tracks. Anything from lighthearted songs like Put Up Or Shut Up, to more vulnerable tracks like Pops Song, and even the song poking fun at how no one knows who they are like on Don’t Call Me all make their way onto this diverse album. If you’re looking for stuff like Jurassic 5, Living Legends, or People Under The Stairs, L.A. Symphony is right up your alley. Easy to skate to, easier to relax with.

The Shins were one of the first alt bands that I got into, I must’ve listened to Caring Is Creepy over 100 times now. This album has a nostalgic hold on me, the artwork will always remind me of my teen years, walking through the high school feeling like nobody understood me (the real me, y’know?) The album itself has a few highlights (New Slang being the other big standout for me) but is kind of boring overall. I don’t know if it was a pioneering album that didn’t age well or if it was just one of those albums I always assumed I loved until I listened from start to finish. At any rate, this is a well regarded album that is not lazy or grating by any sense, just not as wonderful as I remember it being.

I love this cover, it reminds me of some of the spirit characters on Miyazaki films.

Want to Own on Vinyl?:

Nope.

Final Thoughts:

Busdriver is an impressive emcee, there’s no doubt about that, don’t believe/trust me? Listen to Me – Time and shut your face. The thing that separates Busdriver from other wordy rhymers, such as Aesop Rock and MF Doom, is his inability to make a solid album. He has a few tracks that are fun on each album, but he can’t make one that demands more than one listen. He’s a great artist that seems to be wandering a little aimlessly. This is the time where I think a concept album with a famous beat maker would really help Busdriver make an album of note. Let’s see a Danger Mouse and Busdriver collab, please!

Weezer is notorious for being one of those bands that had a few great albums and then just pretty much flopping the rest of their career. They’ve been picked on enough so I won’t be cruel because at the end of the day I do like this band. But damn this album is just so incredibly bad. It’s as if they went to a frat house and just wrote lyrics with that audience in mind. It’s eye-rollingly corny, immature, and sometimes just plain stupid. Even a few of their slow songs really crap the bed, too. Miss Sweeney may be my all time most hated Weezer song ever created, like honestly what is that song? It’s fun for high school but does not age well at all.

Randy Newman is the musical voice of Disney, every time I hear his voice I picture the credits of A Bug’s Life or Monsters Inc. But with Good Old Boys we’re treated to the same voice, with a whole different kind of gravitas. It’s still upbeat and fun sounding at times, but a lot of the songs are about adult subjects like drinking, heartbreak, and rolling doobies. It’s truly an odd experience at first hearing this previously pure artists actual music, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There’s some sweet sweet self-deprecation tracks that fit really well with his sound. He sounds like a mix between Harry Nillson and Frank Sinatra, but that’s just me trying to rationalize him, to most people he’s Randy Newman, the influential artist, to me he’s the dude who rounded the Disney flicks out.

Ty Segall is one of those artists who has released a lot of albums in a short amount of time, and because of that I don’t know how consistently good he can make them. Melted is a good example of his genius being somewhat flawed (just somewhat, I mean it still received an 86%), true I like a lot of the songs on this record, but the overall flow is really not there. Where Emotional Mugger worked as an entire record, Melted seems disjointed and a little rushed. Some seem to have emotional ties to this record, to me this is one I picked the tracks off of that spoke to me and left the rest behind, I took what I wanted for shuffle but probably wouldn’t revisit this as an album again anytime soon.

Any Gorillaz fans will recognize the name Roots Manuva, he gave a spectacular performance on their song All Alone on their crown jewel Demon Days. He’s a big deal in the UK, but kinda unheard of up here in Canada. But he should be played a lot more! His sound can go from anything to fun alt hip hop: ex. Join The Dots to introspective sad rap much like the stuff coming out of Seattle (Grieves comes to mind) such as songs like Sinny Sin Sins where he talks about his Pentecostal upbringing. He can also do songs that capture hearts much like Method Man’s You’re All I Need, Roots has Dreamy Days a ballad like love song sure to be relatable to more than a few. Bring it all together with muddy, dark, and often overpowering beats and we get Run Come Save Me, a hip hop album not to be missed.

I actually like the cover a lot, it’s really reminiscent of early electric music.

Want to Own on Vinyl?:

Not really one I think that would be that great as a record.

Final Thoughts:

San Cisco is fun music, really easy to put on and have anyone generally enjoy it. They’re good at what they do: making poppy bouncy music. The Water is really dance-able, consistently enjoyable, and not at all thought provoking, just the kind of tunes you need when throwing a summer pool party, or for those long days when you need something mindless to lift up your spirits. The music is really solid, not like a lot of the bands who are similar, and thank the sweet lord it’s not too repetitive. A fun summer listen.

Not really the Relient K I’d buy if I ever were to get some of their vinyl/

Final Thoughts:

Perhaps I’m a little biased when it comes to this album, but I was raised with these songs, and being raised Christian, it would be impossible to go without hearing a handful of Relient K tracks. Luckily this album ages really well (much better than others of theirs I’m sure) it’s juvenile, it’s simple, it’s dripping with growing pains (both as a band and in the overall themes) and that makes it endearing, who’d a thunk it? If you weren’t raised in a Christian household than I’m sure you’ve never or rarely heard this band, but these songs were anthems at Bible Camp, and because of that they’ve kinda buried their way into my brain and have become a nostalgic trip for me.